The first summer rains fell. For several days the rain thinned and the wind blew hard, then suddenly the sky cleared and the clouds scattered. In the deep sky, only the blazing sun remained, lighting the fertile shore and watching the crowds run.
The king's envoy, Yao Lin, came in a fierce rush, hurrying to persuade Twenty-Water City to surrender. Yet after staying for more than ten days and meeting several times with the Black Wolf commander, he lowered his profile, fell silent, and left in haste. When he departed, he took with him the eighty servants Black Wolf had gifted him, as well as the full measure of "sincerity" those servants carried on bowed backs.
Escorted by two hundred legion warriors, several dozen God-descendant nobles of Cempoalli also followed Envoy Yao Lin toward the land of the Tlaxcalan. Their destination was precisely the great camp at Tree Snake City, five hundred li away, where the prince was stationed.
"The king's attitude, the prince's attitude, and the attitudes of the Alliance's great nobles... I rushed here day and night, wanting to do all I could to preserve tradition, to make it acceptable to all three sides... yet the Black Wolf commander would not accept it!"
Envoy Yao Lin turned to look back at the tiny Twenty-Water City on the horizon. Waves surged in his chest, but his face was calm and serene.
"The waters of Lake Texcoco are rolling, and hidden currents are surging throughout the Alliance. The whirlpool on the seacoast is a projection of Lake Texcoco, not a place for an alligator snapping turtle to linger long. And as a Black Wolf skilled in battle, leaping straight into the sea to fight the tide... he must have the resolve not to fear drowning!"
Yao Lin narrowed his eyes